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Lantern Dance

Theatre Company

Integrated dance

Lantern Dance Theatre School

Lantern’s founder and Artistic Director Helen Pettit is also Principal of Lantern Dance Theatre School, which she founded in 2005. The School offers a full timetable of classes in Ballet, Jazz and Balletone in Ely.

Ballet classes follow the Russian style Classical Ballet syllabus of the NATD, the National Association of Teachers of Dancing. It’s a lyrical style that creates strong expressive young dancers with a good technical foundation.

Children can start at around 3 years old with a fun and involving  half hour of Playdance, and there’s a whole range of classes after that. If you’re thinking of dance classes, come in to take a look. There’s a free tryout for every class.

At the school, all pupils can take part in a range of performances, in the community at events such as Ely Eel Day and in specially-devised ballet shows. Since 2005 Helen has created ten original full length ballets for the school: The Fountain (2005), Ruslan & Lyudmila (2006),The Stone Flower (2008),The Little Humpbacked Horse (2009), Peer Gynt (2012), Coppélia (2014), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2015),The Nutcracker (2016), Cinderella (2018) and Peer Gynt (2020).

The Little Humpbacked Horse (2009)

Ruslan & Lyudmila (2006)

The Stone Flower

(2008)

The Fountain

(2005)

Coppélia (2014)

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Peer Gynt (2012)

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2015)

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The Nutcracker (2016)

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Cinderella (2018)

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Peer Gynt (2020)

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Helen’s ballets for the school

After training at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London, Helen became a professional dancer and prize-winning choreographer. She taught contemporary dance in Finland for a year and was head dancer and choreographer of a touring Opera-Ballet company in Italy, where she lived for many years, founding and running two dance schools on the Riviera. She has an exceptional record of teaching all ages and abilities and of preparing pupils for success in performance and examination.

Helen ran dance classes at Highfield Ely Academy, Ely’s special school, for over fifteen years and produced an annual Musical Theatre show there. Recent shows included Alice in Wonderland, The Snow Queen, Climb Every Mountain, Supercalifragilistic, The Fantasmagorical Machine, The Little Mermaid, Anna and the King, Tiana’s Dream, Flying without Wings, Over the Rainbow, Wouldn’t it be Luvverly, Circle of Life, Where is Love?, The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast.

Helen taught the after-school Dance Club at King’s Ely Acremont for 12 years and taught GCSE Dance and A Level Dance at King’s Ely Senior. She created and directed the choreography for seven King’s Ely Senior musicals: Grease!, Fiddler on the Roof, Return to the Forbidden Planet, The Wizard of Oz, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jekyll & Hyde and We Will Rock You.

Lantern Dance Theatre School meets all the requirements of the Council on Dance Education and Training for a Recognised School. Full Public Liability Insurance. DBS Enhanced Disclosure.We have a team of Licensed Chaperones who supervise our pupils at performances. We have our own PRS and PPL online music streaming licences for our Zoom classes.

Helen Pettit